


in dreams

by undead_bunniez



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Caring Hannibal Lecter, Dream Sex, Fluff and Smut, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Introspection, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Nightmares, Wet Dream, Will Graham Knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:26:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29697768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undead_bunniez/pseuds/undead_bunniez
Summary: Will has a dream about Hannibal that leads him to some long-overdue introspection.© undead_bunniez 2021
Relationships: Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 62





	in dreams

When Will wakes, it’s from haunting images of an inky blackness. His naked corpse is being mounted ceremoniously on an elk’s head in Garret Jacob Hobb’s antler room, being surrounded with bouquet upon bouquet of aromatic purple flowers - lilacs, maybe - before the deep black flood waters rise to cover his body, consuming him. Then, the image is gone, replaced by bright light reflecting off of a glinting hunting knife, and suddenly he’s being gutted by it, hot and sharp and _real_ pain radiating through every molecule of his being.

He wakes with a start, panting and sweating through his thin grey shirt, locks of dark hair sticking to his clammy forehead. He sits up as he catches his breath, grounding himself as he surveys his surroundings. _My name is Will Graham, I am in Wolf Trap, Virginia… and I had another nightmare._ The dogs are all asleep except for Winston, who whines quizzically. Will beckons him over and scratches the soft fur between and behind his ears, whispering quiet words of affection in the dark.

He lays back down and tries to focus on the stream in his mind, someplace solitary and quiet where there is no ink to swallow him whole, only the slight comforting pull of the current and the sensation of the sunlight warming his pallid skin. It brings him some small comfort, and eventually he’s calm enough to be lulled back to sleep by it.

He dreams again, this time of waking from a nightmare to find Hannibal standing over him. The doctor was watching him sleep. They just look at each other for a few elongated moments, holding eye contact for longer than they ever have in waking life. Will is uneasy, being unable to detect the other’s intent. Hannibal treads silently over to Will, footfalls not making a sound, and sits beside him on the edge of the bed.

He places a hand tentatively in the mess of Will’s chocolatey curls, fingers playing lightly through them, and Will reflexively pushes up into the contact like a cat, eyes flickering shut momentarily as a soft sigh escapes him. Hannibal is pleased by this, letting a smile reach his eyes. He continues administering gentle touches intended to soothe, running his hands back and forth across Will’s shoulders with just the right amount of pressure, following the line of his thinly-clothed clavicles to his chest and rubbing delicate circles there.

As he continues his ministrations with one hand, the other moves to press two fingers to the pulse point of Will’s neck, feeling the thrum of his blood beneath the skin, and Will tips his head back slightly to open himself to the touch. After a moment, the hand resumes what Will realizes is effectively _petting_ him. He wants to be insulted by it, but can’t be - Will is captivated and settled by the touch, wanting more though he doesn’t dare to say so.

Hannibal can smell it on him, he’s sure, as he brings a hand up to stroke through his stubble while his thumb ghosts over the soft rosy skin of Will’s lips, tracing the contours of his face before both hands return to his chest then embark down across his back muscles. He deftly outlines the slight contour of his waist before continuing on to explore his arms, feeling sinewy musculature barely hidden beneath the skin.

The whole while Hannibal seems to be gauging Will’s reaction to this unprecedented touch, as if concerned he might startle and break from the trance. He takes some observable amount of pleasure in Will’s increased heart rate and the ever-so-slight sighs he’s letting out as he ghosts his hands over his frame. Eventually he seems to settle into the fact that Will is nothing but accepting of this behavior, and it is no sooner than this that he makes his next move.

Their lips meet and play for what feels like an eternity, actions Will would have thought much too soft and dynamic to be orchestrated by someone as cold and clinical as Hannibal. They kiss languidly, wetly, in a way simultaneously overly sweet and utterly vicious. It is something deliciously theirs, devouring each other with finesse and grace. The doctor bites and tugs on Will’s bottom lip, drawing soft whimpers of pleasure from him. He smiles into Will’s mouth, satisfied by the sounds he’s eliciting from the younger man.

Hannibal rearranges them so he’s slotted between Will’s legs, dropping Will’s head to the pillow and breaking the connection of their lips to migrate smoothly down the mattress. Without much fanfare, he reaches into Will’s boxers and takes him into his mouth, drawing out a low, stifled moan as Will’s eyes pinch shut in pleasure.

He swallows him down, working his tongue and cheeks over warm flesh in a way that feels dangerous and yet immensely pleasurable, not in spite of it but _because_ of it. It feels like a reward or a peace offering - a demonstration of things to come, perhaps, if Will is loyal, a thought that makes him shiver.

He tries to shove thoughts of motivations aside, but no sooner is he able to ground himself again than he’s reaching his climax, releasing with a low, timid groan. When Will is spent, he looks down the bed and sees Hannibal savoring every bit of him - the sight makes something pleasant churn in his stomach, something as yet unnameable.

When he wakes in the morning, beams of sunlight streaming through the window inform him he managed to sleep solidly through the rest of the night, a pleasant shock. It’s slowly and with an unusually clear head that the realization arrives - he desires Doctor Lecter carnally, as evidenced by a certain reaction his body had apparently had to his dream. His boxers are sticky, and he lets out a rough and exasperated half-chuckle as he realizes he can’t remember the last time he had a wet dream.

On examining the dream and his reaction to it, he finds quickly that he understands it.

Will knows that he is and will always be Hannibal’s - he and Hannibal belong together, as something preordained, and this desire makes sense as an extension of that. Though he hadn’t ever consciously imagined the events of last night’s dream taking place, it would be far from accurate to say he hadn’t felt a particular tension building under his skin and in his gut whenever he was under the doctor’s gaze or had any physical contact with him, however brief. He’s sure he knew of his attraction to Doctor Lecter on some subconscious level, but it took until now to pick up on it in any concrete way - and even then it was by way of the brute force of unconscious imagination rather than through cogent thought. He can’t help but think Doctor Lecter would find that amusing.

It’s then that he’s brought to the realization that Hannibal has surely picked up on his desires before he has, and he doesn’t know what to feel about that besides a small twinge of embarrassment for his lack of introspective insight. He’s not exactly adept at pointing his analysis inwards, something the good doctor most definitely knows, and it occurs to him that _maybe he’s been waiting for me to come to this realization._

That is a loaded thought, one he allows himself a few more brief moments of ponderance on before deciding it’s too early in the morning to be fretting over everyone’s favorite cannibal.

He tries and fails to push thoughts of Hannibal aside as he rises from his bed and heads for a well-needed shower.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! this is my first hannibal fic but i have more in the works already. :o)
> 
> feedback is greatly appreciated!! <3


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